Mouse Deer and CrocodileOne day, Mouse Deer went down to the river to take a drink. But he knew that the crocodile might be waiting underwater to eat him, so he said out loud. “I wonder if the water’s warm. I’ll put in my leg and find out.” Of course Mouse Deer didn’t put in his leg. He picked up a stick instead and put one end into the water. Chomp…! Crocodile grabbed the stick and pulled it underwater. Mouse Deer laughed. “Ha… ha…ha… Stupid crocodile! Cant you tell the difference between a stick and a leg?” Then Mouse Deer ran off to drink somewhere else.

In the next day, Mouse Deer wanted to cross the river. He wanted to eat the fruits on the other side of the river. He saw a floating log in the river. He knew that Crocodile looked like a log when he floated. Mouse Deer didn’t want to be eaten by Crocodile when he crosses the river. He had an idea. He called out loud, “Crocodile!” Crocodile rose from the water, “Hello, Mouse Deer. Have you come to be my lunch?” Mouse Deer smiled. “Sorry, not today, Crocodile. I have orders from the King. He wants to invite all the crocodiles in this river to a party. He wants me to count all the crocodiles so he could prepare enough meal for you.”

“Really…? Tell us what to do,” said Crocodile. “You must line up from this side of the river to the other side,” said Mouse Deer. Crocodile then got all his friends and family. They lined up across the river. Mouse Deer then jumped onto Crocodile’s back. “One,” he counted. He jumped onto the next crocodile, “Two.” And the next crocodile, “Three.” Mouse Deer kept jumping until he arrived on the other side of the river. “How many are there?” asked Crocodile. “Just enough,” said Mouse Deer. He laughed as he ran to the forest.***

Lake Toba
In the northern area of Sumatra Island, lived a young man. Everyday, he work hard as a farmer. One day in the morning, the young man went fishing in a river. Not so long after he threw the bait, it was bitten by a fish. He pulled the fishing rod and was amazed by the fish he caught. It was a golden fish. “Wait, please don’t eat me,” the fish suddenly spoke to the young man. Startled, the young man dropped the golden fish and it suddenly turned into a beautiful girl.

“I must have been dreaming,” the young man said to himself. “Don’t afraid, Sir. I was a princess cursed by the gods because a mistake I did. You’ve save me,” said the girl. “As my gratitude, I’m willing to be your wife.” The young man was so amazed to see the beauty of the girl, so he accepted her as his wife. They became man and wife but with one condition, the young man promised not to mention about the fish form of the girl. Terrible disaster will happen if the promise is broken.

A year passed, the young man and his wife already had a son. They were so happy. Their son grew up as a healthy boy. But he was a little naughty. He also had a habit, he was always hungry. One day, the wife asked their son to deliver lunch to his father. But, the son ate the food on his way to the fields. The father had been working since morning. He was so hungry. Finding that there’s no food left for him, he said angrily, “Stupid boy! You little fish boy!” He didn’t realize that he broke the promise.

After he said those words, his son and wife mysteriously disappeared. From their footstep on the ground, there’s water bursting out. The water kept coming out and started to flood the area. The whole village and the surrounding area became a lake. There’s a small island in the middle of the lake, known as Samosir Island. And the lake is known as Lake Toba. ***

Pak Lebai Malang

Pak Lebai was an old man living in a village by the river. Everyday, he used his sampan for travelling at the river. Pak Lebai had a bad habit. He always changed his mind before he did something. He was an inconsistent man. One day, Pak Lebai was invited to a party by his neighbor. Pak lebai was happy. He loved party because he could eat delicious food. He also could get a buffalo's head from the party. Still on the same day, he got another invitation. Those two party invitations made him confused. The two parties were held at the same time, but at different places. The two neighbors who invited him lived in different sides of the river. One neighbor lived on the east side and the other one lived in the west side. "If I go to the west side, I will only get one buffalo’s head. If I go to the east side, I can have two heads of buffalo. But the host at the west side is friendlier,” he said to himself. He was confused.

On the following day, Pak Lebai paddled his sampan to the party at the west side of the river. But then he changed his mind and went to the east side. On the way there, he met with some friends. "The party is awful. There are not many buffalo's heads," said one of them. So, Pak Lebai turned back his sampan again and went to the west side. Unfortunately, the party was already over when he arrived there. Pak Lebai immediately paddled his sampan to the east side again. But he also missed the party.

Pak Lebai was upset and blaming himself for being so inconsistent. He was so hungry and tired because he was padding back and forth in the river. He then fell asleep in his sampan. He did not realize that his sampan was drifting away at the river. When he woke up, he was already in the different village. That’s why all his neighbors started to call him Pak Lebai Malang (poor mister Lebai).***

Biwar and the Dragon

One day, the people from the village of Mimika were very busy. They prepared twelve boats and set off on a journey to find sago (traditional food of the people in the island of Papua). After three days, their boats were filled with sago. But on their way back to the village, they were attacked by a dragon. The dragon’s tail caused a big wave in the river. Most of the villagers were drown, but there’s a woman who managed to save herself. She was hanging to a tree log and finally arrives in a land.

The woman was the only survivor from the incident. She was pregnant. Her boat was broken so she couldn’t go back to the village. The woman then lived in the forest near the river. Later she gave birth to a son. She named her son Biwar. He grew up as a skillful hunter. He can make various weapons, set traps to catch animals, and provided sufficient food for both of them.

One day he brought some fish for their food. When his mother saw him bringing fish, she asked where Biwar got them. He said it was from the river. The mother was still afraid of the dragon, so she forbade Biwar to go near the river again. She also told him about his father and the villagers that were killed by the dragon, "Your father was killed by the dragon. I'm the only one survived from the incident. That's why we live alone here, Son."

Biwar then decided to hunt the dragon so that he and his mother could go back to the village. He set traps near the river. Then he made some noise by playing the tifa (traditional drums). Attracted by the noise, the dragon came to Biwar. When the dragon started to attack, Biwar pulled the rope that linked to his traps, releasing spears that hit the dragon’s head directly. The dragon died instantly.

Biwar then came to his mother and told her about the death of the dragon. The next day, he built a boat and set sail to return to the village. When they arrived in the village, all the people were so happy to hear the news about the dragon’s death. Thanks to Biwar, they are not afraid to sail in the river anymore.***